Meaning

Someone who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service..

Definitions by Sense

1. Someone who hangs on, or sticks to, a person, place, or service.
2. (mining, historical) An onsetter.

Example Sentences

Her love was sought, I do aver, / By twenty beaux and more; / The king himself has follow'd her / When she has walk'd before. / But now her wealth and finery fled, / Her hangers-on cut short all […]

Not that he was what is commonly called a Screw; that is to say he was not a mere screw; but he was acute and malicious; saw everybody's worth and position at a glance; could not bear to expend his choice wines and costly viands on hangers-on and toadeaters, though at the same time no man encouraged and required hangers-on and toadeaters more.

The Rhymney (51 route miles), once an impecunious hanger-on of the Taff Vale, had enjoyed its own route through Caerphilly into Cardiff since 1871, [...].

“I thought you really liked us.” “I did. Deeply and desperately. And all I wanted was for you to like me. Instead, you treated me like... an afterthought.” “I have got absolutely no really close female friends anymore.” “An annoyance.” “Oh, nice going, dipshit.” “A hanger-on.” “Stand over there and just pretend not to listen.” “I can do that.” “An inconvenience.” “You did R-S-veep "yes."” “Sort of hard to shuffle things around at this late stage.”

Word Forms

• hangers-on
• hanger on

Synonyms for hanger-on

Related Words

When Should You Use Hanger-on?

Use hanger-on when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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